Joanna

What Joanna means

Means “God is gracious”

From Latin Joanna, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets.

Source: Wiktionary, “Joanna” (revision 93847729), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Joanna?

US: Steady: #305 in 2015, #306 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #402 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1984, when 3,332 girls got the name (#88 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,612 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,247 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,988 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in HI (3.73 per 1,000 girls), DE (2.22 per 1,000 girls), SD (1.64 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Joanna is #306 in the US and #514 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Joanna were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the US pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Jenna418 US · 29 E&W
• Jana181 US · 54 E&W
• Jannah140 US · 84 E&W
• Janna84 US · 8 E&W
• Joana67 US · 6 E&W
• Jaina43 US · 4 E&W
• Jayna44 US
• Jeanne30 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Jo
• Joann

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Joanna

Girls

• Virginia#525Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1922, with 19,144 babies; 572 in 2025
• Deborah#862“bee”^*
• Marie#617Editor’s note Down from #560 in 2015 to #617 in 2025 in the US
• Anne#619Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1959, with 5,745 babies; 472 in 2025
• Paula#853Editor’s note Up from #889 in 2015 to #853 in 2025 in the US
• Barbara#968“strange, foreign”^*

For a brother

• James#6“May He Heel”^*
• Philip#527“fond of horses”^*
• Lawrence#518Editor’s note Down from #499 in 2015 to #518 in 2025 in the US
• Thomas#34“twin”^*
• Peter#187“stone, rock”^*
• Martin#335“of or like Mars”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Joanna’s. Rank is US 2025.